Micro Bridge

I used to speed hike pretty seriously. To put as many miles as I could under my feet for as long as I could stand. Now some folks think the trick to that is to carry as little as possible and mentally prepare for the sufferfest to follow. I took a different tack.

NM4

Micro Tarp 2

Micro Tarp

NM 1

NM1

NM2

NM3

NM5

NM6

OM 1

OM 2

OM3

Ultralight materials at the time left something to be desired. A good pound of pad was needed, a decent waterproof floor that didn’t go poof by day twenty was hard to come by. So I looked to those trees I hiked through and thought why not simply accept the limitations and find a way to work with what I had. So I got into hammocks, then bridges, then I built the lightest bridge hammock in the world. It would get me up out of the mud and muck, avoid that problem of a bomber bivy sack to stay dry, the heavy pad to sleep well. There would be a few concessions, but not many. When you only sleep a few hours a night, you need to sleep well.

Speed hiking to me is taking what the trail gives you. Flowing through the woods like a deer, moving in harmony with the world around you. So I took the materials I had and found the way that was given and the micro bridge was born. It’s not for everyone… but then again neither is speed hiking. So don’t gear up to suffer, gear up to flow.